Daughter Of Hell

Chapter 48

We all split up, Castiel and Jack taking the trails, Sam driving into Lebanon and Dean and I, speeding down the highway in hopes of some sort of clue as to where she is. The sun begins to rise and a beautiful painted sky rises over the frosty woods around us. Despite the heater, my breath still comes out in puffs. A single lonely tear falls from my eye, as I think about how this could be the last Sunrise Mae sees.
That is, If she's even still alive.
Half an hour goes by and my eyes start to droop shut, but I pinch myself to keep them on the road.
"She couldn't have gotten this far." Dean mutters and then it hits me.
"Dean. Humans walk about 1 kilometer per 10 minutes. We don't know how long she's been gone but if she left around midnight, we need to look the other way."
And with that, he roughly spins the car back around and we shoot off back toward the bunker.
"Dean wait!" I shout and he slows.
"Jesus Christ." he angrily mutters and I point to a gravel alley leading toward another highway.
"I didn't see that the first time." I shout and he takes off down it. As the dust kicks up behind us I notice a red trail along the road.
"She was here." I say and Dean halts the car. I slam the door behind me and follow the blood into the shrubbery next the the ditch beside the dirt road. Dean comes running up behind me and I hear water trickling over small stones. He shines a flashlight onto the creek bed and we see her.
Barely shut eyes, knees bent in, toward her stomach. One long leg is extended toward the brook and her foot is just floating in the water. Sweat trickles down her dirt glazed face, dried blood staining her jawline, flowing down her neck and onto her shirt. A jacket I believe is Dean's is loosely thrown over her pajama top and sweats. Bruises have formed on her knees and i can just see them through the holes torn in her pants.
I rush to Mae's side and check her pulse. A moment passes in heavy silence.
"So?" Dean almost shouts at me.
"she's not dead." I reply and He scoops up her crumpled figure , sliding her into the back of the impala. I climb in beside her and steady her while he shoots the car back to the bunker. Whilst driving, Dean calls Sam and Cas to let them know we'll be back. I press my fingers to Mae's sweaty neck and find a slow, unsteady heartbeat.
"Dean. Its gotten worse."
I mutter from the backseat and he stops the car.
"good thing we're here." Dean slams the car door and rips open the one near me, lifting Mae with a grunt. He carefully lifts her and as we approach the bunker, Cas swings the door open.
"Come inside." he guides us and Dean rushes in with Mae. I follow and suddenly Dean shouts. Cas and I follow him to see Jack and Sam at the foot of the stairs. My brain slows to see Dean drop Mae onto the cold cement floor, her body shaking violently.
"She's Having a seizure!" i shout and Hastily run into the main hall to join them.
"She's what?" Jack cries.
I inform them to leave her and we all solemnly wait for her to stop shaking. As soon as her body falls limp, we bring her back into her room, where Rowena is reading a spell book, worry lines creasing her face. I grab a cloth and wipe the sweat, dirt and blood from Mae's face and neck. There are no open wounds so Dean and I realized earlier that she must have been coughing up her own blood.
"I understand you all care, but I'd prefer to do this in peace, so everyone but Sam please leave." Rowena commands and we all slowly exit.

Back in the main hall, Dean's face turns beet red with anger.
"We were supposed to be saving her dammit." Dean shouts and I back away.
"Why didn't you stop Sam?!" Dean yells at nobody in particular. He slams a fist on the table.
"Any one of us could have stopped him!" he shows no signs of calming down.
"You, Jack." he points and Jack weakly looks up to him.
"sam loves you! You're the baby. He would listen to you, why didn't you stop him?"
He pauses and turns to me. I can see his eyes brimming with tears
"And you! She looked up to you. You connected with her, you helped her. Damn it Viv, I saw you two get along so I decided to look after her. Why, didn't you stop Sam!?" His words bring my blood to a boil.
"I didn't stop Sam because Maeve wanted this! She decided to go through with it. You heard her yourself!! This is nobody's fault." my voice falls quiet and Dean's angry face falls to a dim sadness. I nod to myself and sit in a desk chair. Rolling up beside me, Jack takes my hand. We sit in silence and Dean lets out a shaky breath, prompting me to look up and see Cas holding him in his arms. Dean isn't crying but he looks like he might collapse if Castiel stops holding him up. His bowlegs are shaky and frail. That's when i realize Jack is slipping out of my grasp, getting up and joining them. If this was a happier moment, I would have said,
'what the hell, why not' and then joined the hug, but as tears prickle both my eyes and clog my throat, I silently wrap my arms around the mound of emotional men. We stay still, breathing each others air until someone clears their throat. We all pry ourselves apart and meet the tired eyes of Rowena.
"Hate to interrupt your moment, but its Mae." the pause in her words hangs heavy over our heads.
"She's okay.".

A continuous sigh of relief comes from all of us.
"We're not going through with the procedure. She suffered heart complications and after the one you saw, two more seizures. She should be awake soon, but won't be fully healthy for a little while." Sam happily states the rest while Jack wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my cheek.
"Thank fucking god." Dean sighs of joy and Cas hugs him, pulling apart just to slam their lips together.

The next morning, I rush into the shower and head straight for Maeve's room, a face free of makeup and my wet hair in a bun. I quietly sneak in to find her sitting up, Sam asleep in a chair at her bedside.
"He tried to watch me all night but fell asleep I guess." Mae's voice sounds dry and I rush over to hold her thinned out frame in my arms.
"I'm so glad you're alive." i whisper into her neck.
"Me too."